this is bbc world news today. our top stories... mexicans are voting for a new president and parliament following the deadliest election campaign in decades. i'm olly foster live in moscow, where the hosts are having another party. that's because russia have knocked spain out on penalties. a huge manhunt is under way in france — after a notorious gangster escaped jail using a helicopter. firefighters warn a blaze in the north of england could take at least a week to put out. hello and welcome to world news today. voters across mexico are choosing a new president and parliament in an election which could redraw the country's political future. it follows a campaign plagued

by political violence. more than 130 candidates and political staff have been killed since september. millions of mexicans are angry at the ruling centrist party of the outgoing president, enrique pena nieto, who struggled to contain widespread crime and corruption. the frontrunner in the presidential race is the anti—establishment former mayor of mexico city, andres manuel lopez obrador, who's pledged to clean up politics. if he and his coalition win, it will be the first time since 1929 that mexico has a leader from outside the two main parties. let's go live to will grant in mexico city. three hours or so left still to vote. what is your sense of which way this is going to go? it's hard to say just from way this is going to go? it's hard to sayjust from the smattering of people you end up speaking to on the

day of the election itself. we went to quite a working class, low—income community in the east of mexico city, and the vast majority of people there were pro—amlo, the initials of andres manuel lopez obrador. they didn't mention him by name, but it was clear from the way they were talking about fundamental change, not just the they were talking about fundamental change, notjust the identity of the president, but the political direction of the country, that they we re direction of the country, that they were referring to the sort of language he has been using. tell us why there seems to be a shift in the country why there seems to be a shift in the cou ntry towards why there seems to be a shift in the country towards this candidate, who has been twice before in the presidential elections? there is a broad sense in which it is his time. as you say, he has stood twice before. the first time, he missed out very narrowly in 2006. a lot of his supporters felt that that was fraudulent, that it was taken from

him at the last moment. but since then, with the centre—right party thatis then, with the centre—right party that is part of the institutions of mexico, their name stands for the revolutionary institution party, i think there is an exhaustion with the status quo. you mentioned some of the issues in your introduction, the corruption and widespread violence, the state of the economy. people are exhausted and they want to is stop seeing the rich getting richer while the poor can barely make ends meet. thanks for the update. now, let's get the very latest from another extraordinary day at the world cup — spain are going home after being knocked out by hosts russia. olly foster is following all the action from moscow. amid those celebrations behind you, another incredible day? it's very noisy here in moscow, because the party at the luzhniki stadium has

now hit the centre of town after what was such a gripping match. nobody expected russia, even their fans, to get this far into the knockout stages. but now they have knocked out the former world champions spain on a penalty shoot out to reach the quarterfinals. the country is in absolute dreamland. 2010 champions against the host nation seemingly writing their own script at this world cup. but the russian roar was silenced 12 minutes in by an own goal for sergei ignashevich, who appeared to be more interested in wrestling sergio ramos than winning the ball. at the other end, gerard pique handed russia the chance to equalise. all eyes were on artem dzyuba, bar those of his manager as he fired in the equaliser. then this tasty encounter quickly turned bland. without any more goals, the extra spice came in the form of a penalty shootout. by koke's turn, it was two apiece, but igor akinfeev‘s save made

it advantage russia, especially when aleksandr golovin scored next. captain ramos got spain back on track. so all the pressure fell on iago aspas. he had to score if spain were to have a chance. but akinfeev was on a roll, saving his country from a world cup exit and securing a quarterfinal at spain's expense. the igor akinfeev is the hero tonight in moscow. let's show you the scene at the fans' park on just across the river from the luzhniki stadium. it is close to the moscow state university. the scenes there when those penalties were saved, a fantastic night yet again for russia. it's the first time they have won a knockout tie at the world cup in1966, the have won a knockout tie at the world cup in 1966, the first time they have been into a quarterfinal since

1970. my work, they have waited a long time to do this well they world cup and this is their own world cup, which makes it feel so very special. so they are now heading to sochi for their next game in six days' time next saturday, for that quarterfinal. we don't know who it is going to be because the match in nizhny novgorod between croatia and denmark is still going on. that one has gone to extra time as well. it was 1—1 very early on, denmark taking a surprise lead through mathias jorgensen after a taking a surprise lead through mathiasjorgensen after a goalmouth scramble. he managed to top that one away after a defensive mix—up from a long throw. but mario mandzukic soon equalised for croatia. there was a mix—up at the other end, but it has stayed like that since then. they are in the first period of extra time in nizhny novgorod, knowing that whoever gets through has got

russia is in the quarterfinal. so those two teams will feel they have a good chance of getting to the semifinals. that half of the draw is wide open, because we have no argentina, no germany, no spain. when you look at that half of the draw, england's half as well, that isa draw, england's half as well, that is a very clear path towards the final. but we have seen some extraordinary things here, some unexpected results, so we are not going to predict anything. wejust know that tonight, russia are going to enjoy this incredible victory against the spanish. it is all to play for! thank you. french police are searching for a gangster who made a dramatic escape from a prison by helicopter. redoine faid had been serving a 25—year sentence for a failed robbery, during which a police officer was killed. richard lister has the details. a career criminal, inspired by gangster movies. redoine faid is now on the run. his escape from this prison in the paris suburbs had all the hallmarks of a film script. as he waited in a visiting area,

two accomplices in a hijacked helicopter landed in the grounds. using smoke bombs and heavy tools, they broke through to faid, bundled him onto the helicopter and flew him away. the helicopter was later found 60 kilometres from the prison. its pilot had been seized as he waited to give a lesson. after flying faid and his accomplices out, he was released unharmed. redoine faid had a measure of fame after writing a book about his life of crime during a previous jail term. he revealed how hollywood had perfected his robbery technique. in the book and in the documentary that followed, he explained that he was fascinated by the cinema, he used to see hollywood movies with robert de niro, also french movies that talked about spectacular attacks and spectacular escapes. but french police say his crimes often involved heavy weaponry and brutal violence. faid was serving a 25—year sentence after this policewoman was killed

in 2010 in a raid he organised. this is actually his second jail break. last time, he used dynamite to blast off the prison doors and was on the run for six weeks. another manhunt is under way. richard lister, bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... security officials in mali say french and malian troops have been attacked in the north of the country. there are reports of deaths and injuries, but no further details have been given. the troops are said to have been attacked by a car bomb while on patrol in the city of gao. some 3,000 french troops are stationed in the sahel to help in the fight against islamist extremists. police in india say more than 30 people have been killed when their bus fell into a gorge. the accident happened in the himalayan state of uttarakhand. at least three people have been taken to hospital with injuries. a suicide bomb attack in the eastern afghan city of jalalabad has

killed at least 19 people. most of them were members of the country's sikh minority — including the only sikh candidate in the parliamentary elections due in october. they'd all turned out to welcome the afghan president, ashraf ghani, who had visited the city hours earlier. reports suggest that german chancellor angela merkel‘s interior minister — whose opposition to her migration policy threatens to destroy her coalition government — is not willing to accept the eu plan she and other european leaders proposed this week. horst seehofer, who leads mrs merkel‘s bavarian sister party, is meeting senior members of the csu to discuss the ongoing government crisis. jenny hill has more from berlin. horst seehofer, angela merkel‘s interior minister and of course the leader of her bavarian coalition partners, has really got mrs merkel in a corner. a couple of weeks ago, he issued in effect an ultimatum saying that unless she could come up with a tough europe—wide migration

strategy, he would unilaterally enforce controls at the german border which would turn away more migrants than they currently do. the row between them is threatening to tear her very fragile coalition government apart. talks have been going on now for weeks. mrs merkel has of course come back from a summit of eu leaders with a migration strategy of sorts. that is being discussed by horst seehofer and his party leadership at the moment. the indication that we are getting out from people inside that meeting is that he's not prepared to accept some of what she is proposing, that it is not strong enough to answer what he says is the challenge of migration here in germany. what is interesting about all of this is the fact that migrant numbers have fallen sharply, 96% down since the height of 2015. i'm talking of course about migration into the eu overall, but the same applies to germany. and yet migration as a theme continues to dog angela merkel and remains a highly charged political issue notjust here, but in other european countries.

so at the moment, we're watching and waiting. horst seehofer is holding his talks. mrs merkel will hold hers with her own party leadership. it may be that a compromise comes out, but at the moment it looks as though mr seehofer is going to play hardball. we're joined now by stefan kornelius. he is the author of a biography of angela merkel, and the head of the foreign policy department at the s ddeutsche zeitung. well, this meeting has gone on for a lot longer than many anticipated and we don't know what the outcome will be, but no matter what comes out of it, do you feel that mrs merkel‘s authority is seriously dented by what is happening here? seriously, but not necessarily fatally. it is a serious crisis, a crisis the

conservatives in germany have never seen for the last a0 years. angela merkel is in a corner, but in public opinion and factually, she is not the reason for that prices. the crisis is home—made by the bavarian csu. it boils down to a leadership struggle between the outgoing party chairman horst seehofer, who is fighting for survival as party chairman, and might be willing to ta ke chairman, and might be willing to take angela merkel with him. chairman, and might be willing to take angela merkelwith him. so chairman, and might be willing to take angela merkel with him. so you think that it is transparent, that people are aware that this is about internal politics rather than a fight for the leadership of the country? on a factual basis, this cannot be about migration. angela merkel brought back a lot of goodies from the eu summit and the csu were initially happy about that, but it has totally derailed now since this basic struggle is back. it is not

about pushing refugees back to the border or not, it is about the person of angela merkel, the symbol of liberal politics in germany, whether the csu thinks she has to give way to give the party a better chance in its regional elections this coming fall, and horst seehofer, being the party chairman of the bavarian csu, is at the helm of the bavarian csu, is at the helm of this survivor strategy. do you think the country is now looking at a split, and if so what does that mean for german politics? this is what nobody in germany expects, because that would definitely shatter the party landscape. it would destroy the conservative camp. it would help the populist right—wing ft, which is on the rise anyway, so that would be earth—shattering for germany anyway, so that would be ea rth—shattering for germany —— anyway, so that would be earth—shattering for germany —— it would help the afd. it would put

germany in the same league as france, where traditional parties have disappeared, or in the us, where we see a major shift in the party landscape. interesting to get your analysis, thank you. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: you've heard of wedding—crashers but how about funeral—crashers? we'll find out why some people are paid to mourn those they don't know in ghana. this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines... voting is under way in the mexican election after one of the most violent campaigns in its history. the hosts, russia, pull off the biggest shock of the world cup so far — beating former champions spain on penalties. more now on mexico's elections, in which the presidential frontrunner andres manuel lopez obrador is mounting a strong

challenge to candidates from the two parties which have governed mexico for almost 90 years. a little earlier i spoke to duncan wood, director of the mexico institute, who joined us from mexico city. i started by asking him what more we knew about mr lopez obrador. andres manuel is a fascinating character. he often casts himself as being the outsider, being very different from the other politicians, but of course, he's the oldest and most established politician in the race this time around. he's been around for a long time. he is a career professional politician. but he has mounted two presidential campaigns before, both of which were unsuccessful, narrowly missing out in 2006 by half a percentage point from the man who won, felipe calderon, and then in 2012 losing out to the current president of mexico, enrique pena nieto. but throughout all of this period, people often say he has been campaigning for the presidency for 18 years. throughout this period, he has maintained that he wants to change mexico.

he was to get rid of what he calls the power mafia, the people who really control the country, big business and government working together. he wants to make this a kinder and more just society. twice, that message has not really landed with the electorate, but this time around it seems as though he will be successful. the question is, is he going to live up to the promises of the policies he has laid out in his campaign manifesto? one of the most important issues that people are looking at here and around the world is what a andres manuel obrador presidency will meet for the mexican economy, for free trade and foreign investment etc. his campaign manifesto says that he is going to be very moderate on those issues, that he believes in orthodox economics, he believes in free trade and foreign investment and fiscal austerity. but a lot of people in mexico, at least 50% of the population doubt whether that will be the case if he wins.

so what do you think he can offer to the people? as you say, he has made lots of promises. what is it that is appealing, if he does win, to the majority of mexicans, if that is what happens, given that he has failed to succeed two times previously? well, it's interesting because i think we are seeing a split down the middle in mexico. 50% of the population see him as a hope for mexico. some of them see him as a great hope for mexico. the slogan of his morena party is "the hope of mexico". another half of those voters think he will hopefully be better for mexico than previous presidents have been, but a full 50% of the population are worried. they think he may bring instability, that maybe there are authoritarian tendencies at work there, that maybe he won't actually keep mexico in its current economic model as a 21st century economy. so i think there is a big division within mexican society on this. however, those 50% of

people who have expressed a preference and say, we think he is the hope, they have gone to the polls today and they are marking their ballot papers and they are hoping that this will mean a substantial, significant change in terms of how the country is run and how all of the prosperity in this country is divided. more than 100 firefighters are working in what's being described as "extremely testing conditions" at the scene of a huge moorland fire in lancashire in northern england. on saturday, strong winds led to two fires merging — the result now covers several square kilometres. officials say it could take at least a week to put out the flames. sarah walton reports. it's hot, sweaty work, and there's no end in sight. firefighters have spent a third full day on winter hill, but despite their best efforts, eight square kilometres of moorland are still alight. there's fires in quite an extensive

area on two faces of winter hill, so we've got two areas, in the region of about four square kilometres each, so significant fire fronts. fire crews have travelled here from as far away as south wales and warwickshire, working in the intense heat and thick smoke, fighting flames not just on the ground, but also from the air. the fire here is spreading notjust through this very dry grass, but also underneath the ground, where the soil is very peaty. firefighters are finding they'll put out one area of fire, but the ground underneath is still so hot that it will be back alight just minutes later. and that's a worry for these workers from rivington gardens — a site of national importance — now just metres from the fire. timber!

they're chopping down surrounding vegetation to try to stop the flames. well, the gardens are listed at grade ii nationally, they're one of the top ten lost gardens in the whole country. the gardens themselves being listed, and 11 of the structures within them, mean it's a really important heritage asset. while there are bigger concerns with life and other loss elsewhere, we're desperately trying to make sure the fire doesn't reach them. fire crews will have to leave the moor once the sun goes down. they'll be back at first light, but say it could be weeks before this fire is out. sarah walton, bbc news, winter hill. funerals in ghana are a big deal, so much so that some people make a living by being paid to attend them, despite never knowing the person who has died. their role, they say, is to use their tears to help those at the funeral let out their own. my name is amidukle. i'm a funeral contractor.

people pick me to go to their funeral and cry for them. we are all widows after our husbands died, so we decided to come together to help those who cannot cry, cry. in ghana, when you have lost someone and you don't cry, it means you don't love a person. that's why everybody should know how to cry, because when we are crying and somebody‘s standing beside you, whatever you say, after that you hear the person saying the same thing. you don't know the person and you don't know the person who has invited you. after doing thejob, you go away. you will not meet him or her again. when someone's husband dies,

we have a way of crying. you have to cry to show the people who are around that the person has lost a husband or his wife. some funerals are big funerals. some are normal. so whenever you're invited, we come in and we notice how big the funeral is. it's how we charge. we can charge $1,000. after we go and cry and we come back, we feel normal because it's a normal thing. we will all die one day. some people don't know how to cry. some people, when they have lost their relatives,

they don't know how to talk and cry. so if we are not there, it seems it will not go well with them. so i advise people to join this group. professional mourners in ghana. don't forget, you can get in touch with me and some of my team on twitter. you can also give us any of the stories we are covering online. we will be back in a few minutes with the headlines. in the meantime, goodbye. we turn the heating up again today, backed up to 31 celsius in england

and wales, together with a bit more humidity. many places were dry and very warm if not hot and sunny today, but that has not been the case everywhere. as expected with the heat and humidity, wheels had this cloud which has been producing bursts of heavy rain and even a few thunderstorms. the main focus of that earlier was the south—west of england, where in parts of devon, there was not far off an inch of rain falling off some very heavy looking cloud for a while. then we saw the wet weather drifting into parts of south wales. but we have also seen the showers easing off, one or two running up through the english channel and threatening to move inland farther east. but the tendency overnight is for things to calm down. the cloud that brought some rain in north—west scotland is moving to eastern areas of scotland. it is bringing cooler air, so we will find single figure temperatures in northern scotland. further south after those storms, which is no lower than 70. for monday, we still have a few showers and perhaps the

odd thunderstorm close to the south coast. but they are tending to stay out at the. bags of sunshine once again, really hotting up across england and wales, temperatures again going up to 31 or 32 celsius. behind the band of cloud, we have introduced some slightly fresher air for scotland and northern ireland, with typical temperatures in the low to mid 20s away from the north sea coast. as we look ahead to tuesday, we will find the low pressure bringing the showers, tending to diminish, high pressured trying to building across the uk, but it is not particularly dominant. it does bring sufficient dry weather, so most areas will be fine and dry again on tuesday. we still have the shower risk towards the far south and south—west of england, but most of the storms will be out at sea again or over the near continent. so on the whole, it's dry and very warm again and it is sunny. a bit fresher

across the north, but higher temperatures are always likely this week across southern parts of the uk, where it will be human for a while. a few showers initially in the south and then towards scotland later in the week, but most of us still dry. this is bbc world news. the headlines. after a brutally—violent campaign, voting is underway in the general election in mexico. over 130 politicians were murdered in a matter of months. the front runner in the presidential race is the left wing former mayor of mexico city. and football fans in

russia are celebrating. the host nation has knocked out former champions — spain — from the world cup in a major upset, after a dramatic penalty shootout. reports from germany suggest that angela merkel‘s interior minister, whose opposition to her migration policy threatens her coalition government, is not willing to accept the eu plan she and eu leaders proposed earlier this week. french police are searching for a notorious criminal who's escaped from prison by helicopter. redoine faid was serving a 25—year sentence for a failed robbery, during which a police officer was killed.